PAS MUKTAMAR | Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will not be attending the 72nd central PAS muktamar in Kota Bharu today.

According to PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, the BN chairperson’s much-awaited appearance at the event had to be cancelled "at the last minute due to unavoidable matters".

In his speech at the opening ceremony this morning, Takiyuddin said that Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki is gracing the event as Zahid's representative instead.

The Kota Bharu MP also welcomed Pejuang president Mukhriz Mahathir, marking his party’s first time at the PAS annual meeting as a Perikatan Nasional component member.

Other PN representatives include opposition leader and Wawasan Negara president Hamzah Zainudin, Gerakan president Dominic Lau, and MIPP secretary-general N Sathes Kumar.

PAS sec-gen Takiyuddin Hassan

PAS had extended a special invitation to Umno to attend its muktamar after years of excluding it from the list. The last time Umno leaders were invited was in 2019, with deputy Umno president Mohamad Hassan leading the entourage for the event in Pahang.

Yesterday, Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh attended the PAS Youth muktamar while Umno Ulama chief Dusuki Ahmad went for the PAS Ulama muktamar.

Ummah unity

Zahid's initial expected attendance at today's event came as PAS had been pushing for stronger ummah unity via cooperation with Umno, with the Islamist party framing the pact as a broader rallying of Malay-Muslim politics ahead of the 16th general election.

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Following BN's resounding success at the July 11 Johor polls, it later developed an electoral alliance with PAS under the Muslim unity banner for the Negeri Sembilan election.

However, there has yet to be any official announcement of their potential collaboration for the upcoming Malacca polls.

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